Prof. Rick Rossein on 50th Anniversary of Freedom Summer

In June 1964, a coalition of civil rights organizations organized a campaign to attempt to register as many African-American voters as possible in Mississippi, which had historically excluded most blacks from voting. The Student Violent Non-Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was a leading organization of the coalition.

In a conversation with host Debbye Turner Bell and historian Tara White, Professor Rossein describes the goals of the movement, particularly “Freedom Schools” and the formation of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party.

Prof. Rossein teaches the Equality Concentration and courses on employment discrimination, employment law, and trial practice. His extensive background in civil rights and employment law includes work at the National Employment Law Project, Queens Legal Services, New York City Bureau of Labor Services, and New York City Commission on Human Rights. He drafted an affirmative action plan for the City of New York and was appointed by Mayor David N. Dinkins to a four-year term as Commissioner of the City of New York Equal Employment Practices Commission and by Governor Mario Cuomo to serve on his Task Force on Sexual Harassment. He was appointed the Independent EEO Compliance Consultant pursuant to the federal court Remedial Order in the case of U.S. v. City of New York, after the court found racial discrimination against the New York City Fire Department.